Awards
- Short-listed, Hackmatack Children's Choice Award (Atlantic Canada), 2015
- Commended, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre, 2014
- Commended, Resource Links, Best of the Year, 2014
Life or Death: Surviving the Impossible 
Scholastic Canada Ltd | ISBN 9781443119511 Paperback
160 Pages | 5.25" x 7.62" | Ages 9 to 12
A slave in mid-1800s North Carolina squeezes into a 2' x 3' box and has friends mail him to Philadelphia . . . and freedom. A doctor injects 8000 Polish Jews with a substance that makes it appear they have typhus, getting them sent into quarantine instead of to death camps. Apollo 13 astronauts use duct tape, a hose, and other spare parts to fix failed machinery and bring their spacecraft safely home.
Following the popularity of the award-winning At the Edge: Daring Acts in Desperate Times, winner of the Silver Birch Award for Non-Fiction, this new collection from Larry Verstraete features over 30 incredible true stories of survivors who found creative ways to beat impossible odds.
Raves & reviews:
Praise for Larry Verstraete:
"Case Files is a great book for any young person looking to spice up standard school curriculum in science and history, hoping to put a little scandal in a school project, or simply hoping for a good, compelling read." -Quill & Quire (for Case Files)
"Great for both dipping into in snippets or for an engrossing read from start to finish, At the Edge will intrigue young readers with a sense for adventure." -Canadian Children's Book News (for At the Edge)
"The fast-paced stories are so full of exciting events that readers will be sure to quickly read the book from start to finish!" -CM: Canadian Review of Materials